Latest Articles
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyBacterioferritin of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense Is a Heterotetraeicosameric Complex Composed of Functionally Distinct Subunits but Is Not Involved in Magnetite BiomineralizationMagnetotactic bacteria like Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense are able to orient along magnetic field lines due to the intracellular formation of magnetite nanoparticles. Biomineralization of magnetite has been suggested to require a yet-unknown ferritin-like ferrihydrite component. Here, we report the identification of a bacterioferritin as the source of ferrihydrite...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHerpes Simplex Virus 1 Tegument Protein UL46 Inhibits TANK-Binding Kinase 1-Mediated SignalingHSV-1 has evolved multiple strategies to evade host antiviral responses and establish a lifelong latent infection, but the molecular mechanisms by which HSV-1 interrupts antiviral innate immunity are not completely understood. As TBK1 is very critical for antiviral innate immunity, it is of great interest to reveal the immune evasion mechanism of HSV-1 by targeting TBK1. In the present study, HSV-1 UL46 was found to inhibit the...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Synthetic Phenotype of ΔbamB ΔbamE Double Mutants Results from a Lethal Jamming of the Bam Complex by the Lipoprotein RcsFProtein assembly into lipid bilayers is an essential process that ensures the viability of diverse organisms. In Gram-negative bacteria, the heteropentomeric β-barrel assembly machine (Bam) folds and inserts proteins into the outer membrane. Due to its essentiality, outer membrane protein (OMP) assembly by the Bam complex is an attractive target for antibiotic development. Here, we show that the conditional lethal phenotype of a mutant...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyImproper Coordination of BamA and BamD Results in Bam Complex Jamming by a Lipoprotein SubstrateThe β-barrel assembly machinery, the Bam complex, consists of five components, BamA to -E, among which BamA and BamD are highly conserved and essential. The nonessential components are believed to play redundant roles simply by improving the rate of β-barrel folding. Here we show that BamE contributes a specific and nonoverlapping function to the Bam complex. BamE coordinates BamA and BamD to form a complex between the lipoprotein RcsF...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMetabolic Remodeling during Biofilm Development of Bacillus subtilisBacterial biofilms are ubiquitous in natural environments and play an important role in many clinical, industrial, and ecological settings. Although much is known about the transcriptional regulatory networks that control biofilm formation in model bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, very little is known about the role of metabolism in this complex developmental...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyBarcoded Consortium Infections Resolve Cell Type-Dependent Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Entry MechanismsSalmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S.Tm) is a widespread and broad-host-spectrum enteropathogen with the capacity to invade diverse cell types. Still, the molecular basis for the host cell invasion process has largely been inferred from studies of a few selected cell lines. Our work resolves the mechanisms that Salmonellae employ to invade...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceTiming the Evolutionary Advent of Cyanobacteria and the Later Great Oxidation Event Using Gene Phylogenies of a SunscreenThe advent of cyanobacteria, with their invention of oxygenic photosynthesis, and the Great Oxidation Event are arguably among the most important events in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. Oxygen is a significant toxicant to all life, but its accumulation in the atmosphere also enabled the successful development and proliferation of many aerobic organisms, especially metazoans. The currently favored dating of the Great...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionMucosal Immunity against Neuraminidase Prevents Influenza B Virus Transmission in Guinea PigsRecently, the protective effect of anti-neuraminidase immunity has been highlighted by several studies in humans and animal models. However, so far the role that anti-neuraminidase immunity plays in inhibition of virus transmission has not been explored. In addition, neuraminidase has been ignored as an antigen for influenza virus vaccines. We show here that neuraminidase-based vaccines can inhibit the transmission of influenza virus....
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyRobust Stoichiometry of FliW-CsrA Governs Flagellin Homeostasis and Cytoplasmic Organization in Bacillus subtilisThe intracellular concentration of flagellar filament protein Hag is restricted by the Hag-FliW-CsrA system in B. subtilis. Here we show that the Hag-FliW-CsrAdimer system functions at nearly 1:1:1 stoichiometry and that the system is both robust with respect to perturbation and hypersensitive to the Hag intracellular concentration. Moreover, restriction of...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceNonrandom Distribution of Azole Resistance across the Global Population of Aspergillus fumigatusAzole drug resistance in the human-pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus continues to emerge, potentially leading to untreatable aspergillosis in immunosuppressed hosts. Two dominant, environmentally associated resistance mechanisms, which are thought to have evolved through selection by the agricultural application of azole fungicides, are now distributed globally...